This Is It
by EllaPhaba
Summary: Galinda and Elphaba are chosen to fight in Oz's annual Games, a life or death contest where children are chosen to fight for their Districts until a lone survivor remains and is crowned victorious. Neither one is happy to be in their current situation, but will chance bring them together as allies or even friends? (First Wicked Fanfic)
1. Anticipation

**Anticipation**

Twelve districts. Each with their own industry, perfectly suited to the climate and resources. A capitol. Completely decked out in emerald green, and appropriately named the Emerald City. The Games. A contest in which 24 youths are chosen to fight for their lives, 2 from each district. This is the story of one of those Games in which two tributes from different districts would become unlikely friends in the midst of the terror and bloodshed.

Elphaba Thropp was fierce, but her heart was filled with compassion for the less fortunate. Her skin an unnatural green, blamed for her mother's death, abused by her father, she knew firsthand how persecution felt, for she had spent her entire life never knowing what it felt like to be truly loved. As she walked from her school to her sister's, she walked from her school to her sister's, she endured the taunts of fellow students. She was used to tuning them out by now, but one stuck out today.

"Wouldn't it be great if she just got picked, and we could be rid of her?"

Elphaba turned to see who had made this remark, and saw that it was a short kid, hardly older than twelve, who must have been walking home from Nessa's school. _They're starting young now I see,_ she thought. Instead of replying with a sarcastic remark, she simply stared the boy down with her favorite glare, and he went running away. _He sure wouldn't last long, were he to be drawn in the reaping_, she thought with a cruel smile.

"See you tomorrow, Nessa!" a group of students called to a beautiful young girl in a wheel chair.

"Bye!" she waved back.

Elphaba walked up to the brunette, "Ready to go? No more adoring fans to say goodbye to?"

"If you weren't always so bitter, you'd have friends, too."

"Father would make sure they weren't friends for long," Elphaba laughed humorlessly.

The green girl pushed her sister's wheelchair down the cobblestone path and onto the road that lead to their house. Although, 'house' was an understatement. The girls' father, Frexspar Thropp, was the governor of their district, and the family lived in a large greystone mansion. Her position in society was one of the main reasons Nessa was so popular at school.

"The big dinner is tonight," Nessa said cheerfully.

"Ah, yes. Let us celebrate the upcoming deaths of twenty four children by having a large party," Elphaba replied sarcastically.

"In the Emerald City, they have parties every night for the duration of the Games, so we're not _that_ bad."

"I know. It's sick," Elphaba spat. The citizens in the Emerald City never had to fear that their children would be chosen to fight- they were exempt from the reapings. For them, the Games were an annual reason to party, with exciting entertainment.

The sisters arrived at the front gates of the governor's mansion and soon they were inside, with Nessa being instantly pampered. The servants had long since let Elphaba fend for herself, and she took her own coat off.

"Nessarose, my beautiful flower!" Frex Thropp greeted as he walked into the entrance hall, his arms open in welcome. As he bent to hug Nessa, his eyes flicked up at his green daughter, taunting her. His repulsion of her was, matched by her hatred of him, though, and this glance had no effect on her.

The mansion was bustling with preparations for the party, and Elphaba was able to sneak away and read. Sitting on the wide window sill in an unused room, movement outside caught her eye. From where she was on the second floor, she could see a back delivery door near the kitchens.

A green-clad Ozian guard called a peacekeeper was talking quickly to her father, both of them looking over their shoulders as if they had something to hide. _I wonder what that's about?_ She cracked open the window and held her breath, trying to catch what they were saying.

"When you fill the bowls with the names, leave Nessarose's name out, got it? She is not getting picked, is that clear?" the governor said.

"Yes sir, but what's in it for me?" the guard asked.

Frex reached into the pocket of his roves and pulled out a bulging velvet pouch. "How does this sound?"

"Excellent sir, thank you, sir," the man stammered, "Miss Nessarose's name will not be written."

"Good, now go before someone notices us," Frex finished.

Elphaba quickly closed the window. _Seriously? No wonder they're both so enthusiastic! Nessa is in no danger at all! _The unfairness of the whole situation was too much. _Every other kid in our district lives in fear of reaping day. _Slamming her book closed, the young woman stalked out of the room and downstairs to where Nessa was beginning to greet guests.

"Have a good evening, Nessa, I'm going to my room," Elphaba said, planting a kiss on her sister's head.

"You're not having dinner with us?" Nessa asked, concerned.

"I'll ruin everyone's appetite. Don't worry, I can get some food from the kitchens if I get hungry."

* * *

Far away in District 1, an energetic blonde was sitting at a lavish dinner with her parents.

"I'm sorry, momsie, I simply can't force myself to eat more tonight," she said, pushing her half-empty plate away.

"Nervous, sweetie?" Her father asked. He was a jolly-looking man with wrinkles around his eyes from laughter, and a white-blonde beard. He wasn't overweight, but he had the shape of the rich and well fed.

"Nervous, yes… but excited, too," the girl answered.

"Alright, darling, you don't have to finish," the girl's mother said.

"I'm going to bed. Goodnight, momsie. Goodnight, popsicle," the blonde kissed her parents and retreated to her very large, very pink bedroom.

She lay on her bed, staring at the ceiling. Who knew what tomorrow would bring? The chances of being chosen were slim, of course, but if she _were _to be chosen, she'd be playing a whole new game of chance. _You'll be fine, Galinda,_ she told herself.


	2. Lottery

**Glad you guys are enjoying this! I've loved writing it!**

**I'd like to thank Broadwaygirl21 and tap-Violeta for reviewing!**

**So here's the next chapter. Don't be afraid to review!**

* * *

**Lottery**

"Good morning, District Nine!" a quirky man in outlandish green clothing addressed the large crowd below his place on the stage, "Shall we begin?"

The man clapped his hands and a peacekeeper started a video proclaiming all of Oz's wonders and glorifying the Games. When the video was finished, the crowd dutifully applauded.

"Wasn't that fantastic?" the man said, almost giggling with glee, "Now here to speak is your governor, the _wickedly _committed, one and only Frexspar Thropp!"

The man stepped back from the microphone and Frex stepped forward.

"Thank you. Citizens of District Nine: We are the breadbasket of Oz. Ours is a hardworking district, and we are all one big family here," the governor said with a smile, "The tributes chosen today will represent us well, not matter who they are. We are a district that succeeds, no matter what we do. From the grain farmers to those who operate machinery and work in the factories, to the doctors and teachers, to the peacekeepers, we are great. Winning the Games would not only bring honor to the victor, but to the district. Keep that in mind. Now, let the main event begin! And may The Great Oz look upon you with favor!"

The eccentric man reappeared behind the bowl containing the boys' names. He ceremoniously reached a green-gloved hand into the bowl, extracted a mint green slip of paper and walked with it to the mic. He unfolded the paper slowly, hoping to increase the suspense, before reading the name aloud.

"Niic Gehlz."

The man looked out into the sea of boys. They stood at all different heights and were of all different body types, although many were muscular from field work. There were a few Animals mixed into the group as well. Most children were dressed in their best outfits, some in their blue and white striped school uniforms. Those were the kids of the farmers, who couldn't afford nice clothes besides the mandatory uniform. The boy who stepped out was wearing his school uniform, his blonde hair parted neatly to the side. He looked to be about thirteen and still had the young, round features of a child. He made his way to the stage, his face serious. Just as he was about to climb the stairs, a voice rang out.

"No, wait! I wanna go- I volunteer!"

A new face stepped out, this boy looking more like a young man. He was obviously not from Niic's family, being tall and dark. He had brown hair that was pulled into a low pony tail, a strong jaw line, and muscular arms. He, too, was wearing his school uniform.

Elphaba was familiar with this face. He was 18 like she was and was in the same class. He had tormented her multiple times, standing in her path or knocking her books off of her desk. His family lived outside of town and grew wheat, and he often skipped school to work the fields. _Good riddance, _Elphaba thought with a smirk, _A bully like that belongs in a place full of people to kill. He'll like it._

"And what is your name, son?" the Emerald City official asked when the volunteer had arrived on stage.

"Echir. Echir Utain," the young man said with his head held high.

"Well congratulations, Echir!" the eccentric man said, "And now for the ladies. Mr. Governor?"

Frex Thropp stepped to the girls' bowl smiling, as he had nothing to fear. Nessa's name was nowhere in the bowl. He reached his hand in, stirred the mint green slips, and pulled one out at random. He unfolded it, read it silently, finding the face in the crowd. She was easy to spot.

Elphaba watched her father closely. When he locked eyes with her, her stomach dropped.

"Elphaba Thropp," Frex said aloud.

The ground felt like it was spinning. The green girl felt a sizzling sensation come into her hands, and balled them into fists. She stepped out of the crowd as the entire crowd began to whisper and snicker. Her stomach churning, she set her face the way she did in the halls. Unreadable, emotionless, a slight glare. She flicked her eyes up to her father, who was looking back at her, the smallest sneer on his face. As governor, it _was_ slightly frowned upon to openly hate your daughter. Elphaba made her way to the top of the stage.

"Do we have any volunteers?" the eccentric man asked. The wind blew dryly through the square, blowing grain dust through the air. The kids looked silently back up at the stage. No one was going to volunteer for _her. _"Then I believe we have our two tributes! Echir Utain and Elphaba Thropp!"

District Nine politely applauded.

* * *

"Galinda, darling, it's time to go!"

"I'm coming, popsicle!" Galinda called through a mouthful of toothpaste while she simultaneously brushed her teeth and applied a few last touches of glittering eyeshadow.

Five minutes later, the family of three was exiting the gates of their luxury home and making their way to the city center, which was draped in green and gold decorations.

Galinda hurriedly broke away from her parents to join her friends standing in the registration line. The group of girls chattered away about dresses, each other's reaping-day hairstyles, who they thought would volunteer this year, and of course, boys.

When everyone had gathered and the annual video was played, and after a few short speeches that Galinda hardly listened to, it was time for the reaping. A woman in a huge green dress and towering gold wig stepped up to the microphone.

"As many of you know, the option to volunteer has been temporarily suspended-" she was interrupted by a large chorus of boos but raised her voice and continued, "-due to last year's brawl. So, the name that is called is the name that goes to the Games! Good luck to all, and may The Great Oz look upon you with favor!"

The woman went to the boys' bowl and carefully pulled out a name. Unfolding it, she went to the mic and read the name.

"Finnigan Atlanto!"

Galinda nearly swooned when he came forward. One of the most popular boys in school, Finnigan Atlanto was tall, muscular, and had beautiful dark blonde hair that was gelled today in his trademark style. They had dated twice. _Oh, I do hope he wins_, Galinda thought.

When Finnigan had made his way to the stage, the woman went to the girls' bowl and drew a slip of paper in the same careful fashion as she had the boys'. Making her way back to center stage, she read the name.

"Galinda Upland."


	3. Departure

**New chapter! I was planning on posting it this morning, but the day got away from me, so sorry about that!**

**Thank you to Broadwaygirl21, FrozenSWLoKfan101, and Hyakka29 for reviewing! For those of you who are wondering if this is Gelphie, I wasn't originally planning on it, but due to the requests, you might get lucky. We'll cross that bridge when we get there. ;)**

**So thank you to everyone who is reading this! I'm so glad you're enjoying it and sticking with it! Enjoy!**

* * *

Galinda's mouth fell open. Her stomach dropped. She looked at her friends who looked back at her with sad smiles. They were happy, of course, that she would have this honor, but Galinda had not been one of the students who opted to train. She was petite, lived in the lap of luxury, was sheltered from the evils of the world. But they had to at least look encouraging.

Galinda's legs moved without her command, bringing her to the stage. She stopped at the foot of the stairs, looked out at the crowd staring back at her, looked up on stage at the Ozian officials and peacekeepers, and, despite the overwhelming urge to crawl into her soft pink bed, climbed to the stage. As she stood at the center of attention with Finnigan, where she'd tried to be all of her life, all she could hear was ringing in her ears and was only vaguely aware of the applause as she was led to the back of the stage and into the government building.

She was left alone in a small, cozy room with a sofa and fireplace, built especially for reaping day. The heat from the fire felt suffocating. Within a short while, her mother and father entered.

"Oh, momsie!" Galinda cried, running to the middle-aged woman.

"My darling, my darling," she said, gathering her daughter into a tight hug.

Galinda's father wrapped them both into his arms. The family stood silently for a short time, trying to lock this feeling of love into their memories forever.

Mr. Upland took his daughter by the shoulders and looked her in the eye, "Darling, I've never met a person in power who wasn't completely captivated by you. We'll get sponsors together and send you a wand. You can succeed, my darling. You excel at anything you put half a mind to."

"We love you so much, dear," Galinda's mother said with tears in her eyes, "Don't you ever forget that."

The family stood hugging again until a guard came in, telling them that time was up.

"I love you!" Galinda called as her parents were forced to exit. She was beginning to cry. "I love you! I love you so terribly much!"

Her parents gone, the blonde tribute sank to the sofa and buried her head in a pillow, sobbing.

A large group of Galinda's friends and classmates appeared in the doorway, and stalled, seeing their friend cry so.

"Galinda?" her best friend asked timidly.

Galinda stood quickly, wiping her eyes carefully so her makeup wouldn't run.

"Oh! I'm so sorry you had to see… that," she said apologetically.

"Don't be sorry; we all wish you didn't have to go," a tall boy said.

The friends exchanged hugs and tried joking and talking about other things to lighten the situation, but all too soon, they too were out of time.

* * *

"Oh, Nessa, dear Nessa," Elphaba said, bending to hug her sister close.

Elphaba had been led to a small, seemingly unused office in the government building, and now was the time for goodbyes. Frex stood in the corner, watching the sisters embrace.

"Please try to come home, Elphaba. I can't get through life without you!" Nessa said into her sister's shoulder, "I- I love you," she choked through tears.

"You don't mean that. You'll get used to my absence, as will everyone else. In fact, I do believe the entire district is already used to it. Just think of how much less embarrassing things will be for both of you," the green girl said.

Frex stepped closer, "Such a pity, you were almost aged out of the running. This was your last year at risk."

"I know. This must be so devastating for you. Please try to carry on without me," Elphaba shot back, not letting herself be hurt by his words. The thought had already crossed her mind, of course.

"Don't say such things, Elphaba!" Nessarose pleaded. She really was saddened by the day's turn of events.

As the sisters hugged again, a peacekeeper came in and said, "Time's up, sir," as if the Governor was the one saying a heartfelt goodbye.

"Come along, Nessarose, dear. We must go," Frex said, starting to move the girl's wheelchair.

"Do your best, Elphaba. You're smart. You can think of something, I know it," Nessa said tearfully.

"I promise I'll try," Elphaba said, working to keep her voice steady. _Does Nessa really care more about me? _ "I'll go down fighting."

Elphaba watched as her father wheeled her sister out of the room, his deep red robes swaying behind him. _She never loved me like a sister, but she _was _my best friend, _Elphaba thought. She received no more visitors.

After a short time, two guards entered the room and led the green girl out to the station where the train was waiting. She was shown to an elaborately furnished cabin.

"This will be your private suite," a guard said, then stood gawking at the green-skinned tribute before him.

"What is it?" Elphaba asked, knowing full well what "it" was, " Do I have something in my teeth?"

"Uh, no.. it's just… you…" the young guard stammered, "Uh, never mind. It will be about a day's journey." With that, he quickly turned and left the room.

Chuckling, Elphaba sat on the edge of the bed. Lost in her thoughts, she lay down and let the movement of the train lull her to sleep.


	4. Impressions

**New chapter! Yay! I'm so sorry about the wait guys. I had trouble figuring out how to make this chapter work, what to include and what to leave out, and that was followed by lack of time and computer problems. But it's here! And I added to it, to make up for the wait. So I hope you'll like it! I loved writing it.**

**Thank you to everyone who is reading and reviewing. Love you guys! Shoutout to Hyakka29 and Broadwaygirl21! Glad you're liking it and thanks for the reviews! **

**I hope you enjoy this next chapter!**

* * *

As District One was closest to the Emerald City, Galinda and Finnigan arrived almost a full day before Elphaba and Hector. This gave Galinda plenty of time for some stupendifying shopping, and Finnigan had nothing better to do, so he tagged along. _You'll never get to wear or use any of this, _a voice at the back of the blonde's mind said. She knew, but she was scared out of her wits and shopping calmed her. So the two spent the morning browsing in the shops around the Tribute Center.

* * *

Elphaba couldn't help but stare out the train window in awe as they entered the Emerald City. _I could blend in here! Everything is green! _The buildings, roads, every bit of infrastructure was a shade of green. The city itself even gave off a citrine glow. The people were dressed in eccentric green clothing since the games were a sort of national holiday, and many wore round glasses with green lenses. _I bet everyone's skin even looks green through those! _she thought, her excitement level almost as high as a child's. But, determined to not look too cheerful, she thought about the fact that citizens here were never at risk of reaping. They had a ban on full Animal citizenship. They lived excessively while half of Oz didn't know when they would eat again.

That evening, almost as soon as Elphaba got off of the train, the tributes met with their stylists to talk about fashion for the next day's Tribute Parade.

"I clash with everything," Elphaba said as soon as her stylist walked in. He stopped short, obviously not expecting to see someone so… green.

"We'll just work with black then," he said with a nervous laugh.

In the end, Elphaba was please. Which was saying something since fashion disgusted her. Her stylist had decided to make her look "like an elegant threat" and she was wearing what almost looked like a black wedding dress. It was made of different pieces of dark, textured fabric, and, depending on how the light hit it, showed a strip of purple or emerald here and there. It was dark, dangerous, and intimidating, and it didn't make her look happy to be there. She loved it.

* * *

Galinda couldn't stop looking at her dress. She had worn a lot of beautiful dresses in her day, but this was spellbinding. It was a cream colored fabric, with hundreds of little emerald jewels that glinted in the light. She was positively sparkling.

When she and Finnigan, who wore a cream suit with emerald accents and bejeweled lapels, made their way to the gathering site, Galinda was confident that she was the best looking. As she looked around, gathering data to support this theory, her eyes fell on a girl from Nine, whose skin was an alarming green. At first, she thought she'd spent too much time in the tinted light of the city, but she realized this girl was _actually _green! Feeling smug and confident, she approached her.

"What happened to you?" she snorted.

"Why? Am I bleeding?" the green thing retorted, checking her hands with mocked worry.

Galinda gave her a look.

"Oh, my skin? How embarrassing," the girl said sarcastically, then sighed and continued with seemingly rehearsed lines, "Do I have something in my teeth? Is my underskirt showing? Alright, let's just get this over with. No, I am not seasick. Yes, I've always been green. No, I didn't eat grass as a child."

Galinda gawked at her. "I'm not _trying _to pick a fight, but I guess no one told you it isn't smart to make enemies before the Games begin?" She huffed, then went back to the front of the line where District One's chariot waited.

Elphaba watched the blonde girl retreat and kicked herself when she realized the girl was from One. _Brilliant, you had to make an enemy and she just _happened_ to be from one of the Career districts!? Good going. _A sense of dread fell into her stomach. Her situation grew worse when Echir swaggered up to where she stood near their chariot. His shoulder length brown hair was hanging freely, no longer in a ponytail, and he wore a black and tan band around his head like an ancient warrior. He was wearing a sort of masculine jumpsuit that was layered and textured like Elphaba's dress, but with golds, tans, and browns. He pointed at her dress and made a pointless show of laughing obnoxiously and artificially, while those around just stared.

"Thank you for your eloquent opinion, Echir, but I rather like this dress, so you can keep it to yourself," Elphaba snapped.

Their stylists came over and gushed over the pair, commenting on how they represented "the very essence of their district", Elphaba being the dark, rich soil, and Echir being the grain that fed all of Oz. Elphaba was almost in pain trying not to roll her eyes.

Soon, an announcement to board the chariots was made, and the stylists scurried to make final adjustments as their tributes climbed aboard.

* * *

The great doors opened in front of Finnigan and Galinda and the petite blonde felt a shiver of excitement. Their chariot lurched forward as the pair of silvery gray horses began to trot. As the pair made their way into the streets of the Emerald City, the spectators who lined the parade route to the Wizard's palace cheered enthusiastically.

Galinda and Finnigan smiled and waved to the crowd, winning them over as District One's tributes always did.

In contrast, Elphaba and Echir wore more serious expressions. Echir was trying to play the part of a brooding soldier, which suited him. Elphaba was glowering because that's simply what she did.

The parade ended when all tributes had made it to the palace and when the Wizard, taking a new magical form each year, addressed them and the crowd. As the sun set on the Emerald City, everyone made their way home, the tributes going to the Tribute Center.

* * *

As dinner was being laid on the table, Elphaba and Echir went quickly to their rooms to change. A Cat came into her room to help her out of her dress. Normally, she resisted the help of servants, but this time she appreciated the help.

"Thank you," she said, slipping the black material off of her green body.

She stood self-consciously, having realized she didn't know what she had to change into. The Cat, giving her a sympathetic smile, brought her a simple navy blue frock and helped zip it up.

"Oh, you didn't have to do that," Elphaba smiled, in response to having the dress zipped up. She always lightened up around Animals. But the Cat simply smiled and nodded.

"Can't you speak?" the green girl asked.

The Cat's smile faltered and she shook her head.

"What? Can't any of the Animals?"

The Cat shook her head again, looking at the ground.

"Miss Thropp!" a voice called, and they both looked to the bedroom door.

"Look, I have to go, but will you be back after dinner?" Elphaba asked.

The Cat nodded earnestly.

"Okay," she said, then took one last look over her shoulder and joined the others in the dining room.

Echir and a man who she could only assume to be their mentor were laughing together over the first course. She slid into a chair and they blatantly ignored her. She began eating her soup and they still ignored her, talking about strategy and the upcoming interviews. As the second course arrived, their mentor acknowledged her for the first time.

"So you're really green?"

"So your name is really Sprout?" she retorted. It was. Sprout Rexin was District Nine's only living victor, but lived in the Emerald City and only acknowledged his own district during the Games.

"Listen, Miss Elphaba," he sneered, "I'm your ticked to survival. Now you can be gracious and open-minded like Echir here-" Elphaba snorted "-or you can get into the Arena and die within a few minutes. And guess what? If you win, no one gives a damn if your name is Sprout."

His last comment gave Elphaba a thought that she hadn't had before. _'If you win, no one gives a damn if your name is Sprout.' Does that mean if I one, people would accept me regardless of my skin? Winning might be worth it!_

"Alright, so what do you have to do to win?" she asked.

Sprout's eyes lit up subconsciously. He couldn't help it. This was his topic. "Well, as I was telling Echir here, survival is only part of the game. Before you're even in the arena, people have made up their minds about you. Of course, you can change their minds through your actions, but it's best to give them something to root for before the Games begin. Tomorrow, there will be interviews with every tribute in which you get to express your character and show the people who you are. Echir is going with a warrior's attitude: that he's in it to win it. Obviously, because of your… greenness… people don't know _what _to think of you. So what message are you trying to convey?"

Elphaba picked at her salad, thinking. "Well I guess I'm most comfortable being cynical. Not that that is going to help me."

"No, it probably won't. But you made a statement in the parade. The stylists helped you out in their whole "elegant threat" thing. Why don't you stick with that? You can be quiet and moody, but vicious. So in the interviews, you can answer the way you normally would. Just don't be happy."

"That won't be hard."

The third course arrived and the trio was treated to roast salmon with vegetables and a mix of exquisite foods that Elphaba didn't even recognize. Sprout then talked basic survival with his two tributes, but it was difficult to remember everything all at once, no matter how well Elphaba retained information. After a delicious dessert of chocolate cake and raspberry mousse, Elphaba retired to her room. The Cat came in shortly. Elphaba sat on the large bed, patting the mattress beside her to let the Cat know she could sit. She looked around nervously before sitting beside the green girl.

Elphaba had gotten a hold of some parchment so the Cat could communicate.

"So, what's your name?" The Cat scrawled her answer. Rusalka.

"I'm Elphaba. Rusalka is a pretty name. Next question: Why can't you speak? Why can't the Animals speak? Where I'm from, Animals are incorporated in daily life and are full citizens." Rusalka answered: I was born here in the Emerald City, so I have never spoken. But when some Animals arrive here, they can still speak. Over time, though, they lose the ability. I don't know why. But we can communicate with each other. And I can obviously write.

"That's so strange! If I win, I'll look into it," Elphaba smiled, "Okay, so what do Animals do here?" Rusalka answered: We are here to serve the citizens of the Emerald City. Some of us are servants to the humans themselves, others work as laborers and maintenance workers. There are no dirty jobs for the humans. We do those. I can't stay here much longer, I'm expected back to the housing.

"Okay, just one more question: The Wizard. What is he like? To us in the districts, he's kept as a mysterious, all-knowing figure." The Cat wrote: His existence here is shrouded in mystery, too. No one has seen his true form. Only his servants come in contact with him, and those servants are humans, not Animals. He's held in extremely high regard by all, of course.

"Thank you, Rusalka. I enjoy talking- er, communicating with you," Elphaba said, standing up. Rusalka left the room after making sure everything was in order for the night, and Elphaba lay down on the bed, her mind spinning.

* * *

Galinda had a fun night at dinner, but was glad when she could finally stop acting and return to her room. It was large, comfortable, and customizable. She just had to say the word, and it turned pink. _Now that's service! _An Animal servant came in to see that she had everything she needed, but then she was left alone. She plopped into a squishy chair, curled up, and looked out the window, watching the bustling night life. Oh, how she longed to be back home. It was nice here, but nothing could make her forget that she was about to die. She knew she didn't stand a chance. Her friends' faces had confirmed that. She was weak and ran from the sight of blood. She knew she didn't have the most level head, either, and she made decisions without thought. Her hopes weren't high. But if she could win over sponsors, and who was she kidding? She _knew_ she'd win over sponsors. Anyway, sponsors would be the key to her survival. So maybe she did stand a chance.


	5. Green Girl From Nine

**Alright, new chapter. Sorry about the wait on this one, I just completely ran out of time to get it copied from my notebook to the computer! **

**I hope you're all enjoying reading this, as I am definitely enjoying writing it. So, this chapter is longer than the others and covers a fair amount of time, plus we meet Fiyero! Hopefully you like it!**

**As always, if you have _any_ criticism or comments, please don't be afraid to review! Enjoy!**

* * *

Galinda stood backstage in an elegant red gown, her hair pulled up and intricately pinned and sprayed. Someone had opened a back door for some fresh air and she shivered. Onstage, the final adjustments were being made before the interviews began. The lights came on, music blared, and the audience cheered as Reginald came onstage waving. The man didn't use a last name, simply went as Reginald, and was an enthusiastic host. He was good at his job.

As in the reaping, boys went first in the interviews, in order of Districts. Finnigan gave Galinda a goofy smile before heading on to the stage. She couldn't clearly hear what he was saying because she was in the wings and wasn't seeing the show broadcast like the other tributes waiting backstage. He and Reginald were laughing a lot, though. So he was playing the charmer. _He's certainly built for it_, she giggled to herself.

Soon, it was her turn. Only feeling a little nervous, she pranced on to the stage. Reginald bowed slightly and kissed her hand before they took their seats.

"So, Miss Galinda Upland. Let me just say first how marvelous you look tonight."

"Oh, thank you! I simply adore this dress," Galinda replied giddily.

"So, Galinda, what have you liked most about the Emerald City?" Reginald implored.

"Hmm, that's a hard one," the blonde said, looking into the audience thoughtfully. "I do really love the beautiful dresses. And the shopping center is unbeatable!"

"Oh, we know it! Don't we, folks?" Reginald asked, and the audience responded with cheers.

"Well what are your plans for the Games? If you're willing to share, of course," Reginald continued, never leaving room for dead space.

Galinda was sad to say she sort of dropped the ball on the dead space, though. "Well… erm… I'm planning to… well I think I'll get allies. You know, once I've seen everyone in training…" she broke off, having not formed anything resembling a plan.

Reginald helped out and covered for her. "Ah, I see. You're being vague, so the others watching backstage can't plan against you yet. Is that it?"

"Oh, Reggie. Can I call you Reggie?" she laughed, "You've got me down to a T, Reggie. No, sorry everyone, but I'm not sharing anything yet!" She pretended to zip her lips.

Reginald was laughing along with the crowd. "I love that you don't wait for my response, you just go ahead and call me Reggie," he laughed, losing his composure a little.

"Well you just seem like a Reggie to me!" Galinda said, making an overly- innocent face.

"Moving on," the host said, wiping his eyes. "What's your home like?"

Galinda's smile faded slightly as she grew thoughtful. "Well, I live with my parents and go to the secondary school. I was planning on attending Shiz next year, of course. I have lots of friends, I mean I guess you could say I'm pretty popular. I love shopping and parties and shopping and spending time with friends… and I'll miss it." The audience let out a collective "Awww".

"Oh dear, it looks like we are out of time," Reginald said softly, then stood, taking Galinda's hand, showing her to stand as well. "Galinda Upland, everyone!"

Waiting in the hall backstage, Elphaba let out a groan. "Could she be any shallower?" she asked to no one in particular, but loud enough to be heard. Some kids looked back at her with a hint of agreement, but most gave her the once-over with expressions of disgust. Elphaba just rolled her eyes. She didn't pay much attention to the other interviews, and soon Echir left and she waited in the wings to go on for her turn.

Bracing herself, she walked onstage as Reginald announced, "Elphaba Thropp!"

Confused applause greeted her, as the audience tried to decide if she was actually green. Reginald took her hand as he had every other girl's and kissed it. The touch shot over Elphaba's entire body and an image of her father passed through her mind, almost throwing her off her game.

Seeing her shocked face, Reginald gave her a kind smile and began.

"Miss Elphaba, let's start with the question everyone's dying to hear. Did you forget to take off the facepaint from the parade?"

"No sir, I'm really green," she replied stiffly.

"Really? Well, I'm sure you're sick of that question, so let's move on," Reginald said. Elphaba was again shocked by the man. "What has surprised you the most about our great city?" Reginald asked.

The green girl had her answer ready, "Thank you for asking. I think your Animal laws are barbaric. They can't speak? Back home, Animals are some of the wisest among us. The fact that you have stripped them of their rights and made them your slaves is sick. That's what's surprised me." Somewhere in District Nine, Nessa was groaning at her sister's non-existent social skills, Elphaba knew it. The words had just slipped past her lips, without thought of consequences or sponsors or personal image.

"Well, you certainly seem to have a well-constructed argument," Reginald, trying to avoid a live, heated argument. "I can tell you're smart. That must play into your home life?"

_He's asking you about your life. Win them over. Don't mess up! _"Well, my father is the governor of our district, and I live with him and my younger sister Nessarose. She's really beautiful and gets along with everyone- unlike me. Our mother died when Nessa was born." _And it's my fault and my father hates me. _"I attend the secondary school, of course, and I might have attended Shiz University. Yes, you're right, I am smart. I don't usually admit it for fear of bragging, but I have heard others say I'm the smartest in our class. But that's my only redeeming quality."

"Well, Miss Elphaba, I can tell you're being modest," the host smiled, helping her out, "So do you have a plan yet for the Games?"

"Not a concrete one, no, but I do know that if I go down, I'll go down fighting," Elphaba assured.

"Good answer. Miss Elphaba Thropp, everyone!" The applause this time was much louder.

The interviews lasted until mid-afternoon, when the tributes were allowed to change out of their dressy attire and into training uniforms. The group of twenty four met in the Training Center, which was equipped with an infinite about of survival teaching devices, weapons, simulations, gear, and fitness trainers.

Today would be their orientation, followed by two days of training and a final day of judging before the Games began. In three days, they would all be fighting each other to the death. Today, they were standing calmly next to each other.

Everyone gathered around a sort of stage that was usually used to teach hand-to-hand combat. Today, though, an instructor stood above the tributes, explaining the rules and details, and how important it was to take training seriously.

Elphaba and Galinda happened to be standing next to each other, and although both had started by listening intently, as the man continued to talk and talk, they lost interest.

Galinda, upon noticing who she was next to, started at the girl's green skin. It was so… exotic. It was flawless besides its color, and the longer she looked, the prettier the color became. The girl had long, full, dark hair and she'd let it down after the interviews, so it cascaded over she shoulders. Her face was angular, with defined cheekbones and a pointed chin and nose. The girl, Elphaba, as Galinda remembered her being called that, stood almost a foot taller than herself, and it was as Galinda was gazing up at her in curiosity that the green girl looked back down at her, an eyebrow raised. Galinda quickly looked away.

About two people behind Elphaba and just to her right, another tribute was staring. Fiyero Tiggular, District Four's male tribute, couldn't pay attention no matter how hard he tried. His eyes kept traveling to the green girl from Nine. The other guys he'd been talking to before had all agreed that she was a freak, some sort of flaw in the gene pool, and he'd laughed alone, making stupid jokes about the vegetables and frogs and anything he could think of that was remotely green enough to compare her to. But here, actually looking at her closely, he couldn't help but think she was… beautiful? _No. Focus, stupid. This isn't school anymore, this is important stuff. _But try as he might, he couldn't stop staring.

Elphaba could sense that someone else was staring at her and tried to ignore it, but it eventually got too annoying to stand. As the instructor droned on, she turned to look behind her. A young man of medium height and build was smiling sheepishly at her as she glared. He'd definitely been caught in the act. His brown hair was still styled from the interviews and his green eyes were carefree and youthful. His skin was a deep tan, and if she remembered correctly, he was the "dangerously charming" heartthrob from Four. His family was in power there, like hers. He gave her a quick wink, to which she replied with a massive eyeroll and turned back around.

After an eternity, the tributes were dismissed to train for about an hour before dinner. Galinda didn't see the point in practicing combat for such a short time, so she decided to go to the snare-building station. It confused her and she didn't see the point when you could just get food at the cornucopia, and instead moved to fire building.

Elphaba was bent over a small pile of shredded bark, blowing gently on the tiny glowing pieces of dried grass at the bottom. She was completely absorbed in her work, and was coaxing a flame from the pile when a burst of air extinguished it, scattering the fire nest in the process. She looked up to see a thug from District Two standing from where he had crouched a few feet away to blow out the flame. Behind him, Echir stood laughing.

"Oops," the kid said, covering his mouth in mock surprise.

Elphaba just huffed and turned away. She nearly tripped over Galinda, who was crouched over her own nest of dried grass and sticks.

"Oh! I'm sorry," Elphaba said, taking a step back.

"Don't mind me. This is pathetic," the blonde sighed, gesturing towards her attempt at fire. "Actually, you had it down really well. Could you help me?"

Elphaba was initially suspicious. _A girl from a career district asking _me _for help? _"Um, sure," she ended up saying. She went to her knees and inspected the blonde's start. "Well, your problem is that the sticks you're using are far too large. You have to start small. Here." Elphaba began breaking and shredding the sticks until they were a manageable size. Galinda wasn't paying attention to the fire building, though. She was watching the green girl intently. Her brow was furrowed in concentration, her black hair tossed over her shoulder. Except her hair wasn't black. It was an impossibly dark brown, and the lights above accentuated its silky shine.

"You're staring."

Galinda jumped. Elphaba was looking back at her, a small fire burning on the simulated ground in front of them. "Oh- uh, thank you for teaching me that. Should come in handy!" the blonde said quickly.

Elphaba stood up and began to walk away. "You're welcome," she said over her shoulder.

She'd had a sleepless night, but when morning came, she forced herself out of bed. She and Echir silently ate their breakfasts in their training uniforms. The uniform was simple: just a pair of black leggings, athletic shoes, and a breathable emerald green shirt. Echir finished quickly and headed down; Elphaba was thankful she wouldn't need to walk with him.

Training passed quickly, and was mostly uneventful. Two male tributes got into a fight about using an archery simulator, and many of the tributes went out of their way to annoy Elphaba, but it wasn't anything she couldn't handle. A few times, that Fiyero kid looked like he wanted to jump in and confront the bullies, but he always just turned away.

Soon, it was judging day. The tributes were to report to the holding room that was connected to the Training Center and wait as they were called one by one to show off a skill of their choice, whether that was fighting, athleticism, or survival skills. Males from each District went first, as usual, and Galinda anxiously awaited her turn once Finnigan was called.

The loudspeaker announced her name and Galinda put on her best act as she strode into the Center. "Galinda Upland, of the Upper Uplands," she introduced herself. As her skill, she chose to build a fire. She really had no idea what else to do, as she knew she couldn't impress anyone with her combat or athleticism, or lack thereof. Plus, she figured she could work a little magic and produce a bigger fire faster. She chose her materials, quickly built a small fire nest, then built up bigger sticks around it, finally conjuring a little flame. She promptly had a large fire blazing, and she went to where the judges sat.

"Well, that's that," she said brightly.

"Miss Upland, based on the skills you have chosen to present, you don't look like you'll have what it takes. I do hope you prove me wrong," the Head Gamemaker said with a smug little smirk.

"Oh. Right. Well, thank you," Galinda said quietly, then exited the room.

A few tributes later, it was Fiyero's turn. He walked confidently into the room, gave the judges a quick wink, and made his way to the obstacle course. Waiting to make sure all eyes were on him, he bounded into the course with incredible agility and footwork. He effortlessly climbed the rope net to a series of hooks hanging from the ceiling, and, taking two small hoops into his hands, swung from hook to hook, using only the hoops. He covered the twenty foot distance in a short time, then landed like a cat on solid ground, completing the rest of the difficult course skillfully. The judges looked impressed, and the Head Gamemaker told him she thought he'd be able to do well. The Head was supposed to make one comment to every tribute to give them an idea of how they'd done.

Eventually, it came time for Elphaba to be judged. She walked into the room with a serious expression on her face, ignoring the still fascinated stares from the judges' table. She'd decided to use a hand-to-hand combat simulator. It basically produced images of enemies, which responded like actual tributes when fought against. She was doing well for not being a heavily built fighter. Almost to the point where the simulation would end, four "tributes" came at her, poised for attack. Her adrenaline rushing, Elphaba held her hands out in a defensive position. As they came dangerously close, her hands tingled, and, without further warning, green bolts of energy blasted from her hands at the images. The simulator was smoking as she stepped out of it, looking up from her hands to the judges' table. They were in various stages of shock, and their expressions would have been comical in any other situation.

"I- I'm so sorry. I try to control it, it doesn't ever happen like this- I was under pressure," Elphaba began.

"No, do not apologize for talent! Miss Elphaba, you possess an extraordinary gift. If you use this power in the arena, sparingly, of course, you stand a very good chance of doing extremely well!" the Head Gamemaker congratulated. The aging woman had a painted, white face and a mountain of white, curly hair piled on her head. Her clothing was eccentric, yet old-fashioned, and her voice was almost raspy. Elphaba didn't know what to think. "Should you win," the woman continued, "I do believe the Wizard himself would be able to make use of your talents. You have _very_ good things coming for you. Now, you'd better go. We don't want the others to think you're special!" The Head winked, then waved her had to shoo the green girl out.

That evening, Galinda and Finnigan sat on the sofa watching the Scoring. The scores were given based on performance at the Judging, and ran from one to ten, ten being the best. Finnigan got an eight for his sword skills, and everyone was delighted for him. Galinda's stomach was twisted waiting for her score, and ended up scoring a five. It could have been worse. In Districts Two and Three, the tributes scored from seven to ten.

When Fiyero appeared on screen, Elphaba's insides felt… fluttery for a bit. She kicked herself, knowing that having a crush in this situation would _not _be wise, no matter how intensely green his eyes were. He scored a ten. Echir scored a seven. Elphaba's face appeared on screen and she couldn't believe her eyes when she scored a nine.

All of the tributes went to bed early. Tomorrow morning, the Games would begin.


	6. The Games

**Alright, I _finally_ have this next chapter up- sorry about that wait! I know the next wait won't be as long! **

**Thank you to everyone who is reading this, I hope you're enjoying it!**

**Thank you to Hyakka29- glad you're excited; hopefully this chapter is everything you dreamed it would be! Another big thank you to Broadwaygirl21- YES it is currently Fiyeraba, and I can tell you that I really enjoyed writing their short interactions in this, so be prepared for more! **

**I hope you're all enjoying this, and don't be afraid to review with any criticisms or comments!**

* * *

Elphaba woke up shivering, but drenched in sweat. Her entire night had been filled with nightmares. She'd gone to bed early, but lay awake until midnight, and had not slept soundly after that. She didn't need to be up for another hour, but with early light filling the room, and the nightmares fresh in her mind, she wouldn't be falling back asleep. Not to mention the nervousness that gripped her insides like a vice.

After staring at the ceiling for an hour, trying to formulate any kind of plan for the Games, it was finally time to get up. Elphaba went to her bathroom and turned on the shower faucet to get the water to an ideal temperature. She stripped off her sweaty pajamas and stepped into the warm water. _This might be the last time you're ever clean_, a voice in her head reminded her. She decided to make the shower last, relishing in the soap and steam. Soon, though, it was time for breakfast, so the green girl dried off and went back into her room. The Cat, Rusalka was standing at the foot of Elphaba's bed, laying out her training uniform.

"Oh, is that what I have to wear?" Elphaba asked.

Rusalka pulled a slip of paper from her apron pocket and scribbled, "Yes, until you get to the arena."

Elphaba nodded and Rusalka turned away so she could put the uniform on. "Thank you," Elphaba said, once she was dressed. Rusalka gave her a questioning look. "For being here for me and being my friend, no matter how short our time was together. It's scary, being here, facing my death. But you've been here, quietly helping me out and listening to me stress over everything. You haven't been prejudiced like everyone else, and that means a lot. So…" Elphaba broke off. She was hopeless at telling people how she felt.

Rusalka took the young woman's green hand and looked kindly into her face. Elphaba smiled and looked away with tears in her eyes. Why was she getting emotional about this? Elphaba felt furry arms wrap around her, and found herself being hugged. After standing stiffly for a moment in all of her awkward glory, she hugged the Cat back.

"I really should go eat breakfast," Elphaba said, stepping back a bit. Rusalka nodded and smiled, and Elphaba hurried out of the room.

Echir was uncharacteristically quiet and ate without a single stupid comment. Elphaba noticed that today's breakfast wasn't for extravagance and show, as the past days' had been, but was designed to be power-packed and healthy for the Games ahead. She ate several handfuls of assorted nuts, and had several slices of fruits she couldn't even name. She had some blueberry oatmeal and a piece of hearty, dark bread that was painfully similar to the bread back home. She realized, all of those memories could soon be gone. _Seriously? You're getting sentimental about food? Toughen up. You're a fighter now. _She ate as much as she could. Oz knew when she'd get her next meal.

* * *

After their filling breakfast, Galinda and Finnigan were walked down to the loading room, where they met up with the other tributes. They were all wearing the training uniform. The aircraft would transport them to the landing site near the arena, where they would be taken underground to the tubes that would eventually bring them back above ground, but in the arena itself. Their arena clothes would be underground.

The blonde's hands were tightly clasped, her knuckles white. Confidence gone, she followed her district partner around the clusters of tributes until they got to the tributes from Two and Three. The boys were both muscular and tall, with perfect skin and hair. The girls were also tall and were of a slender build, but were also very muscular. All four of them had obviously volunteered as Careers. In that way, Finnigan and Galinda were at a disadvantage since no one had been allowed to volunteer from One. The tributes were intimidating at first, but became friendly towards the pair in the blink of an eye.

At breakfast, Galinda and Finnigan had agreed that they would stick together if they were able to. Of course, they'd band with Two and Three because that was expected, but if they wanted out, they'd leave. Galinda was happy for this agreement now. She didn't dislike their new allies, but she didn't fully like them, either.

* * *

On the aircraft that took the tributes to the arena, Fiyero was delighted to see that he was sitting across from Elphaba. As they took off, tracking devices were injected into the tributes' forearms so that the Gamemakers would be able to keep track of their whereabouts. Fiyero didn't take his eyes off of the green girl.

Roughly half of the kids were talking quietly; the rest were silent. Elphaba was among the latter. She didn't even notice that Fiyero had been staring at her for the past five minutes. He gave her a little wave, and her eyes snapped out of their seemingly unbreakable glare and to him. _Ok, that's a good start._

He gave her a wink. She rolled her eyes.

He laughed quietly and she tried to hide her smile. _She amuses herself with this sarcasm._

He mouthed, "Do you want to be allies?" She didn't give him a response for a moment. She just looked at him. Her chocolate brown eyes were staring… scrutinizing? Fiyero shifted uncomfortably while maintaining his perfect smile. Elphaba took a deep breath and nodded, mouthing, "Yes."

He gave her a wink. She rolled her eyes.

* * *

The aircraft landed and the tributes were taken by peacekeepers through tunnels that led to their holding rooms. Elphaba's mind was numb. Sounds seemed muffled, like she was walking in a dream, not in this grim reality. Her fingers were shaking against her will, and she felt like she could throw up. Her plan had been to grab nearby supplies and run away from the fighting, but now she had to worry about Fiyero. He'd acted like he was asking her out on a date. Not that she'd know what that felt like, but she'd seen it happen on campus too often. Fiyero acted like this was no big deal. Like they weren't headed to their deaths. The corridors were damp and cold, and were dimly lit with oil lamps. It was funny how the Emerald City was the pinnacle of technology and modern living, and down here things were like they were in the Districts. Ugly, raw.

They arrived at her holding room, where her new uniform was waiting. The peacekeepers locked the door behind her, and the click of the lock echoed in the underground room with a sickening finality. Her uniform was folded on the small table. A tan, heavy knit sweater, charcoal grey canvas pants with large square pockets running down the leg, and brown boots made of a durable leather. There was a thin, black short sleeved shirt to go under the sweater, and long, heavy socks for in the boots. Elphaba was amazed at how perfectly it all fit, and she liked the durability and practicality of the outfit overall. She had to assume that, based on the clothing, the arena would be in a cooler environment, and this also made her happy.

* * *

As she laced up her boots, and automated voice sounded through the room, "Two minutes." The tube doors sprang open, making her jump. Galinda stood, looking down at her clothes. _Oz, I look hideous in this. Finally in front of millions, and I'm in _canvas_ of all things. _A tan sweater, grey pants, brown leather boots. Were they _trying_ to make her look like a boy? In any case, she already looked so bad, another act of uglification wouldn't hurt. She pulled her hair back into a ponytail. _Yuck._

"One minute," the voice said. Galinda looked in the mirror, took a deep breath, and thought to herself, _You can do this, Galinda. Find Finnigan. Run to him. Go from there. Simplacious. _As she took another deep breath, an image of her parents appeared in her head. _Do it for them._

She stepped into the tube, controlling her breathing as best she could. Her boots made the metal floor clink. The clear doors spun closed around her, and she instinctively pressed her hands on the glass walls. Nothing happened for a bit, but then the ceiling opened up and the platform beneath her began to rise.

* * *

Elphaba looked up as the ceiling opened. She could see a cloudless blue sky, but not much more- until the platform at her feet began to rise. When she was fully above ground, standing on a metal pedestal a foot off the ground, she turned to take in her surroundings.

She had to be honest. She hadn't expected such beauty. All around her was an open field of long, brown grass that had to reach up to a person's waist. Near the pedestals and cornucopia, the grass was short for easy running and so the audience could see the bloodbath better. To Elphaba's left, a mountain range rose out of a tall forest, and to her right was a larger, darker forest. The mountains tapered off in front and behind her, forming a sort of bowl with the tributes at the center.

Elphaba's eyes scanned the tributes. It seemed they were all dressed similarly, with the girls in tan sweaters and the boys in brownish green. Her eyes fell on Galinda, whose face was sickly white. _I have no compassion for _you_, District One._ She kept scanning until she spotted Fiyero, who was looking back at her. He discreetly pointed at her, then to himself, then made a small grabbing motion at the ground. His message was clear enough. _Come by me, grab gear on the way._ She nodded back to show she understood.

He winked. She rolled her eyes.

Elphaba visualized her path to Fiyero. There was plenty of grabable gear on the way. This would work.

* * *

Galinda found Finnigan in no time and he gestured that they'd run to the cornucopia. They'd planned this already, but she appreciated that he was making sure she knew. Oz, she'd probably run in the wrong direction anyway.

The countdown boomed through the beautiful arena.

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

The gong sounded and the tributes took off.

Galinda sprinted towards the cornucopia, not looking back. She wasn't a great runner, but the adrenaline was making her sprint possibly. As tributes found weapons, the screams began. She forced herself to just keep running. Within a bit, she was to the cornucopia, arriving with the other Careers.

"Galinda, take this," Finnigan instructed, thrusting a large backpack into her hands. She swung it onto her back, and looked for a weapon.

Her eyes fell on a dagger with a belt and sheath and she grabbed it, fastening the belt around her waist. She turned around to see most of the others locked in combat. Finnigan had a bow, and swiftly sent a Dog from Eight falling to her knees as she charged him. _The Animals never do last long._

The sight of all of the death around her made her want to throw up. She grabbed her stomach and put her hand on a crate to steady herself. She swallowed hard.

"You okay?" Finnigan approached her. She nodded. "Then c'mon, let's get outta here," he said. Their group of six made their way out of the cornucopia ran in the direction of the mountains.

* * *

When the gong sounded, Elphaba sprang off her pedestal, her long hair flowing behind her. _I should have put that up- no! Focus! Hair is not an issue!_ She bent and scooped up a small backpack without breaking her stride, always keeping her focus on Fiyero, who was grabbing the gear around him. She bent to pick up a sack of Oz knew what, and finally got to her ally.

"You good?" she panted.

"Yeah, let's get going," he answered. They took off running towards the mountainous side of the arena, their arms full.

The waist-deep grass was stiff and scratchy, and Elphaba was glad for the pants and boots. They reached the treeline, and Elphaba was suddenly aware of how warm it was out in the field. Here, the trees provided shade and it cooled off considerably. The trees were immense, with branches full of long needles. The upward-sloping ground was carpeted with brown, fallen needles and pine cones, but they had to be aware of the rocks and roots in their way.

Both Fiyero and Elphaba were panting and covered in sweat when they finally slowed for a break. There was a large, lichen-covered rock sticking out of the slope and they set their packs on it. Elphaba was bent with her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath, while Fiyero paced with his hands on his head, trying to get rid of a cramp in his side. Neither one spoke. Elphaba, still panting, motioned that she was going to check the packs.

In her small backpack was an empty tin water bottle, a pocketknife, a rolled up tarp, and a magnifying glass. In the sack was a pouch full of oats, a bundle of carrots, and a small loaf of bread wrapped in rough cloth.

Fiyero had also grabbed a backpack and went through it. There were two blankets, a coil of rope, a spool of thread, another spool of wire, and a collapsible shovel. In his second bag, there was another blanket and a pair of gloves. He had also grabbed a hatched, which was strapped to a belt on his waist. For not having gone to the cornucopia, they were fairly well equipped. They didn't have much in the way of weapons, but they had what they needed to survive.

* * *

Galinda was beat. Her knees were shaking, her face was bright red, and her feet were terribly sore. Her group had stopped to catch their breaths and were talking of moving on soon to find a good camp.

"Can't we stay here?" she groaned.

The girl from Two, a redhead, shot her a look, "And be out in the open? No way. Didn't you train at all?"

Finnigan stepped up. "Just wait. They took away our volunteer option, so no, neither one of us is here because we've been training."

The other tributes seemed surprised at this. "So you're not fighters? No special skills?" said the boy from Three.

"Nope. I picked up on the bow pretty well, but that's about all I've got," Finnigan replied. He looked apologetically at Galinda, knowing full well that she was the weakest one among them.

The tributes from Two and Three looked at Finnigan and Galinda with skeptical expressions. "Okay. Fine. So we thought that you were trained. That's fine. You had just better keep up with us," the redhead said.

The group picked up their supplies and continued to head toward the mountains.


	7. Night

**New Chapter! I'm excited to have the Games beginning, and _really_ excited for next chapter after this one.**

**Shoutout to 'My western skies', 'woodland59', and 'DCdreamer55' for your reviews! I'm so glad you like it!**

**Hopefully everyone is enjoying the story. Please don't be afraid to criticize my writing as it helps me improve! But I mean any review is a good review. Enjoy this next chapter!**

* * *

**Night**

As the afternoon wore on, Finnigan and Galinda's allies became increasingly distant, not only in their conversation and attitude, but physically as well. They had much more stamina than either of the tributes from One, and made no effort to slow down or wait. When they'd started out after their break, Galinda and Finnigan had slowly been excluded from the conversation. Now, as the sun began to sink in the sky, letting brilliant orange light filter through the tall pine branches, the four tributes from Two and Three were at least fifty yards ahead. The air began to cool off rapidly, and the slope continued to raise slightly as they went.

Galinda would have given anything to take a break and sit down, as she was sure the Careers were continuing on just to show off. Usually in years past, the Careers would lay claim to an area near the cornucopia and fight off any other tribute who ventured near it for supplies. She had no idea what the point of hiking away from everyone else was. Maybe these kids were somehow less violent? _Kids,_ Galinda thought, _we're just kids. And the others already killed multiple other _kids_ in the bloodbath. This is sick._ The blonde shifted her pack, whose straps were becoming painful on her shoulders. Involuntarily, Galinda's brain pushed out the gory events she'd witnessed earlier, helping her cope.

She stole a glance at Finnigan- again. She was desperately hoping he'd notice her and say something, _anything_ to break the silence. He looked just as tired as she felt, and his forehead was shiny with sweat, despite the cool temperatures. His sweater sleeves had been pushed up and his previously perfect hair was now a dark blonde mess. Galinda could only assume she looked worse, which was, in her opinion, a very real problem.

Finally, he looked back at her. He was just opening his mouth to say something when the male tribute from District Three called back to them.

"Hey, we're stopping here to make camp before the light's gone," he said, gesturing towards the setting sun.

Galinda gave an audible sigh of relief. She and Finnigan caught up to the others, who were taking off their packs and stretching. Galinda desperately wanted to fling herself to the ground, but she was determined to uphold her image in front of the others. So she began to unload her backpack as well. As a group, there were three small tents, and it was decided that each of the three Districts would share.

After the tents had been built in a rough triangle, the group sat in the center of the arrangement and ate a surprisingly filling meal of dried fruit, smoked meat strips, and a tin of muffins, which hardly put a dent in their food supply. Suddenly, the Ozian anthem blared through the arena, and the crest illuminated the sky, reminding Galinda of the way lightening bathes the world in unnatural white light during a summer night's storm. The six tributes sat, captivated by the sky.

* * *

Elphaba sat with her back against a massive tree, looking up at the faces displayed among the stars. Eight tributes had died today. Though her heart ached for the fallen kids and for their families, the young woman couldn't help but feel slightly giddy in surviving the first day. Even though it hadn't even been a full day. Had they really still been in the Emerald City this morning? When the music and death count ended, Elphaba looked over at Fiyero. He lay with his back on the tarp they had put down, and must have sensed that she was looking at him, because he turned and looked back at her.

"What?" he laughed.

Elphaba realized she was smiling. She'd been thinking about how no matter how out of breath he'd seemed, he'd find enough to keep narrating his life's story, spilling all of the details about the many parties he'd been to, his practically royal life, the many girls he'd danced with, and all of the schools he'd been expelled from. Elphaba had hardly said a word, and had reached the conclusion that he just liked to hear himself talk. "I'm just so happy we're alive," she answered. No way was she going to admit her thoughts had involved him.

"Alive, but exhausted," Fiyero grumped. "Living might not feel worth it tomorrow!"

Elphaba had to agree. After their first break, they'd stopped running and walked instead, still covering a considerable distance. Their goal was to reach the mountains and hide out there, away from trouble and in an easy place to defend. Her legs had been burning with exertion and were like noodles now. She had a feeling that if she'd try and stand right now, she'd collapse. What was bothering her most now though was the fact that they had yet to see water, and her mouth was sticky with thirst.

"We're going to need to find water tomorrow," Elphaba said.

Fiyero nodded. "Yeah, we probably don't even want to eat anything right now since it'll just make us thirstier."

They sat in silence as the last minutes of day surrendered to the darkness of night. Fiyero took one of the blankets and wrapped himself in it, giving Elphaba the other one. She remained sitting on the tarp, and they silently agreed she would take the first watch. It was not long before Elphaba would hear Fiyero's breathing settle into the deep, slow rhythm of sleep.

Somewhere in the distance, and owl hooted softly. It sounded eerie and mournful, but it was a familiar sound. Back home, on the nights where her father locked her out of the mansion or when she just needed to be alone in the night air, Elphaba would wander the woods surrounding their home. Trees were a necessity around yards in District Nine because of the strong, endless winds that swept the prairie, but only the richest had a full woods. Elphaba vividly remembered the first time she ventured into the woods at night.

* * *

"How _dare_ you make such a mess?" Frex bellowed, "I don't know how you did it, nor do I _want _to know, but you can spend the night out here!" And with that, the Governor slammed the door shut with a force that shook the nearby windows. A young Elphaba was left in darkness on the back doorstep.

Elphaba and Nessa had been fighting over something trivial- thank goodness her father had been out of the house for _that_- and when Elphaba had made her final comment, she turned to leave the room.

"The kids at school are right, you know," Nessarose had called after her, "You really are a monster!"

Stunned by her sister's words, for she had never heard anything that hurtful come out of the six-year-old's mouth, Elphaba turned back around and slammed her foot to the floor in anger and disgust. A thundering sound filled the room, and the lamplight flickered, and the air turned cold. Elphaba's already green hands glowed an even brighter viridian. But the scariest part was that Nessa was frozen in place, the insult barely off of her lips. The young green girl backed away, and ran into the fragile hutch containing her mother's decorative plates. Everyone secretly agreed that they were ugly, but didn't get rid of them as a sort of show of respect. In any case, the plates rolled off of their fastenings and fell crashing to the floor, where they shattered into thousands of pieces. The crash seemed to end the strange… magic? Was that what it was? Elphaba had no idea _what_ she'd done.

"What have you done?" Nessa screamed the same question her older sister was thinking.

"I- I don't know!" Elphaba stammered, panicking. But she realized her sister was asking about the plates and had no idea what had happened during the time that she was frozen in place. She wasn't even aware she _had _been frozen in place.

"Father's going to be furious. Father!" Nessa called, wheeling herself out of the room in search of their father.

Frex had come in from outside to find Elphaba hurrying to sweep together the porcelain fragments. He'd roared threats and insults while Nessa watched from the doorway. Then he'd slapped her hard across the face, sending her stumbling away from him. "Don't you try to get away from me, you little urchin!" he'd yelled, grabbing her arm and pulling her to him. She'd bit the inside of her cheek to keep from making any noise, and he'd pulled her roughly through the house to the door, which he slammed, leaving her in the dark.

She'd stayed on the step, waiting for him to come back and let her in, his point made. But he didn't come and she slowly adjusted to the darkness. She'd been afraid of what lay beyond her sight, but slowly the fear subsided. Then, she saw a firefly in the grass and had run from the house, chasing the little light. She reached the woods and kept running, seeing more and more of the little bugs and laughing as they tried to fly away. She scared a mother deer and her little spotted fawn from a thicket and watched as they bounded away through the trees. Eventually, she grew tired and nestled down in a patch of grass with the fireflies keeping watch over her.

* * *

Elphaba had spent many nights in the woods since then, so she was comfortable here, looking out into the chilly darkness. That night had been the first time the strange magic she possessed had revealed itself. Since then, when she would get the tingling sensation in her hands, she knew she must take a deep breath and calm down because her emotions were running too high. Most recently, she'd had to hide it at the reaping, and then it had happened during her Judging when Morrible, the Head Gamemaker, had praised her for it.

Despite her swirling thoughts, and her plan to keep watch, Elphaba pulled her blanket up a little higher and nodded off to sleep, exhausted by the day's events.

* * *

"Galinda?"

"Yes?"

"I was just wondering if you were still awake."

A little yawn was Finnigan's reply.

He and Galinda were lying back to back in their tent, wrapped in their blankets. The awkwardness of the situation was not lost on the blonde. They'd dated. Twice. While they'd never had a _really_ bad breakup and were still friendly, they both knew what the other one was remembering right now as they shared the space. So, it was awkward. But after a lot of shifting of gear, they got comfortable enough.

Finnigan broke the silence again. "Do you trust the others?"

Galinda had to give it some thought. She genuinely wanted to trust their allies; otherwise what was the point of ganging up? But there was something nagging her at the back of her mind, trying to convince her not to trust them. When she looked back at the afternoon- _have we only been here for an afternoon?_- she had to admit to herself that their allies had not acted in a way that she would have expected them to. "No. I mean, I want to… but I don't," Galinda answered.

"Me either."

"Do you even remember their names?" Galinda asked. Because as hard as she tried, she couldn't think of them. They'd had so little real contact.

"Uh, the ones from Two are Maxim and Delia. Three is Ze and Raquel. I only know that because I spent time training with them. They're really hard to read. I just- I just don't know," Finnigan sighed.

The pair lay in silence, and it was not long before Galinda could hear Finnigan lapse into the slow, rhythmic breathing of sleep. Galinda closed her eyes and tried to ignore her aching joints and nagging thoughts.

* * *

A commotion startled Galinda awake. There was shouting and the sound of objects crashing together, but in her sleepy stupor, she couldn't make sense of anything. She was inside her tent, sitting up, and Finnigan woke with a start and sat up as well. Galinda realized that part of the noise was coming from whatever was crashing into their tent. _Oh Oz, an animal attack? _But then the unmistakable shape of a boot kicked the side of the tent and hit Finnigan in the back.

"What the-?" Finnigan exclaimed. Then a sword sliced through the canvas, right between Galinda and himself. Galinda screamed. This wasn't an animal attack, these were tributes.

Galinda's world was spinning. She couldn't make sense of what was going on, but instinct told her to grab her gear and escape. She pulled together her belongings and scrambled for the zippered door. The sword sliced through the side again, this time cutting Finnigan's shoulder as he gathered up his supplies as well.

"Finn!" Galinda turned, halfway out of the tent. She watched her District Partner's sleeve grow red.

"No, Galinda! Go! Run and get out of here! I'm right behind you!" Finnigan shouted, grimacing. He rushed with his good hand to pack his supplies and leave, and Galinda continued.

She escaped the confines of the tent and ran right into Ze. He gripped her tightly by the shoulders and shouted, "I've got her!" Galinda struggled in his muscular arms, clawing and biting, but he didn't let go. Her hands were free though, and a brilliant idea fell into her head. In one swift motion, Galinda pulled out her dagger and poked it into Ze's forearm, forcing him to let go of her. As Finnigan's shouts continued behind her, the petite blonde hurried as fast as she could into the dark woods.


	8. Relief

**Okay, there's no excuse for updating this late. It's been too long. Basically my commitments started back up again, and I didn't make time to get this updated!**

**Thank you to 'saisairee' for your review! I'm glad you like the idea of this story, and Galinda and Elphaba WILL interact after this chapter! Another thank you to 'My western skies' for your review! I'm glad you like this story!**

**I like this chapter. I know that some of this stuff gets a little boring, but it picks up. Hopefully you give it a chance! I hope everyone enjoys this chapter! Don't forget to review if you have any sort of criticism for this! (Feedback has been clinically proven to shorten wait time between chapters, you know.) Enjoy!**

* * *

**Relief**

Elphaba's eyes shot open and she sat up quickly, her heart pounding. She was momentarily disoriented. It was still very dark, and she felt like she'd only slept a few minutes. _Slept?! _She cursed herself for falling asleep when she should have been alert and on guard. But what had woken her? It was a loud sound- thunder? She couldn't feel any rain. It dawned on her where she'd heard it before. The Cornucopia. The sound had been a cannon, meaning a tribute was dead. In her stupor she wasn't able to tell how close it had been, but it served as a grim reminder that she was never safe. Elphaba watched Fiyero. _Don't get attached_, she reminded herself. She could lose him in an instant out here. He was laying on his back, huddled in his blanket, his chest rising and falling as he began to snore. Paranoid that he might be heard, Elphaba shook his shoulder.

"Huh? Wha-?" he mumbled. His eyes remained closed, though, and he was soon sleeping silently again.

Elphaba leaned her head back against the tree again and solved equations in her head to keep herself awake.

* * *

When the cannon sounded, Galinda had to cover her mouth to keep her horrified cry silent. She'd gotten far enough away that she could no longer hear the shouts and fighting, but she was glad for that. The darkness made it almost impossible to see where she was going, and Galinda was nearly blindly running through the trees. By the time she saw and obstacle, it was practically too late and she'd bump off of it or have to quickly alter her course. She was out of breath and gasping for air but forced herself to keep running. It's funny how willpower appears like that. Suddenly her foot caught on a root and Galinda was sent flying to the ground, skidding on the long pine needles that carpeted the dirt. She tried to catch herself with her hands, and they stung terribly, having been scraped and skinned. She couldn't be positive in the darkness, but the blonde had to assume she was bleeding. She pushed herself up again and continued on, walking now. She had to keep putting as much distance as possible between herself and her former allies. Better to move slowly than to hurt herself even more.

The thought of the tributes from Districts Two and Three made Galinda feel sick to her stomach. They had completely betrayed her and Finnigan, and Galinda felt extremely lucky to even be alive. But Finnigan. Finnigan was dead. There was no way that cannon could have belonged to any of the others. Galinda knew that if Finnigan had killed one of the others, there would have been a second cannon when a remaining tribute killed Finnigan anyway.

After another twenty minutes of walking, Galinda was too exhausted to keep moving. She happened to find a cluster of bushes and pulled the blanket out of her backpack. The ground here was soft and covered with short grass, and Galinda curled up, pulled her backpack close, and covered herself with the blanket. But alone and in the dark, with the fear of being attacked running full force through her body, Galinda could not fall asleep, as tired as she was.

_I'm alone now, _Galinda thought. _The only way I was going to make it was with allies or at the very least a partner. Sure, the sponsors might still send me a wand, but that can only help so much! Oz, I wish I was out of here. Horrendifying is what this is. Completely horrendifying. _The scampering of a small animal startled Galinda out of her thoughts. Her heart was pounding so loudly that it was the only thing she could hear. Her body was stiff with fear. _It's a rabbit or something, you idiot._ _Go to sleep already._

* * *

The loud calling of birds woke Elphaba. It was brightening out, and the sunrise painted the sky a pretty shade of pink. Elphaba realized that she'd fallen asleep again, never waking Fiyero to switch watches. _Oh well. We're alive._ She couldn't stay mad at herself for long when she felt as rested as she did.

* * *

Galinda's eyes were dry with fatigue, but she'd made it through the night. It was freezing out, and fog snaked through the trees. The cold seemed to be leaving through the ground, escaping into the air, and Galinda sat up slowly. She was stiff with coldness and from yesterday's activity. _What next? _Galinda had no plan. But she needed to move because her former allies would surely be on the move this morning. In the dark last night, Galinda had been stumbling blindly, just trying to put distance between herself and the camp. Now, she didn't know which way she'd come from. She guessed her direction based on where she'd been laying, and began hiking again, her lack of purpose nagging her.

But what purpose did she serve anymore, anyway? She'd become a piece in the game, just like all of the other tributes. Anger rose up in the blonde's chest and she kicked a rotted stump in her path, feeling its satisfying crack beneath her boot. She'd never meant anything in these games. None of them did. They'd been stripped of their rights the minute their names had been called at the Reapings. Anger gave way to longing. Galinda longed for the days where she was bored out of her mind in school. Or for the moments when she couldn't decide what to wear. She longed for her bedroom, for her family's large home, for her _family_. Momsie and Popsicle. Were they watching her right now? Would they have to watch when the moment came for her to die? Oz, she prayed they wouldn't have to see it. Tears welled up in Galinda's eyes, threatening to run over her cheeks. But she could keep herself alive, couldn't she? If she kept walking, she could find shelter, food, someplace to hide. She just had to keep moving.

* * *

Fiyero woke up slowly, rubbing his eyes and stretching as if it were a lazy Saturday. Or, Elphaba supposed, _any_ day in the life of the careless.

"Sleep well?" Elphaba asked when he was sitting up.

"Considering the temperature and lack of mattress, yes," Fiyero answered, scratching his head and stretching. "Oz, I'm thirsty. And hungry."

As soon as he said it, Elphaba was suddenly and overwhelmingly aware of her own thirst and hunger. "It'd probably be best not to mention it," she growled.

"You're cheerful this morning," Fiyero joked. Though his comment was meant to be meaningless, it made something inside of Elphaba snap. The green girl turned on the brown haired boy.

"Okay, listen. Either one of us could be dead in five minutes. And then what? It'll just be another unfortunate death in another Games, and we'll be forgotten. And the one who survives? They're left wandering on their own, trying to survive without their friend. Our lives have been stolen from us, Fiyero! Anything that you ever dreamed as a child, anything that you've ever worked for has been in vain! It's a shame if you're too brainless to see that." Elphaba sat glowering at her ally.

Fiyero just smiled back at her.

"What?" she snapped.

"You think of me as a friend," he said. It wasn't a question. She'd given herself away.

"Shut up. I just used it as a word. I don't have friends. The sooner you accept that, the sooner you can wipe that stupid look off of your face. Yes, I've noticed it," Elphaba said, acknowledging his look of shock. She'd caught him looking at her with a sort of lost puppy expression at least three times. "Come on. Let's pack up and find some water."

Fiyero didn't have a good answer, so he said nothing and helped Elphaba fold up their tarp. Then the pair continued moving uphill. They walked quietly for awhile before, as usual, Fiyero broke the silence.

"You know, you don't have to keep up your act around me."

Elphaba said nothing, continuing to walk and adjust her pack.

"This whole 'I hate the world' thing."

Elphaba turned to him. "It's not an act. And why shouldn't I hate the world? I've been hated by the world for the entirety of my miserable life. Hated for something I had no choice in. The _wickedness _of my _abhorrent_ face. It's easy for _you _to be happy about everything when you're loved by everyone you meet. No one comes to a conclusion about you before they've met you... and they don't even bother to _meet_ me." She stopped herself before she could say anything more, not wanting to sound like she wanted pity.

They walked in silence again for a distance before Fiyero spoke up. "Alright. Yesterday, we talked about me-" Elphaba snorted "-today, we talk about you."

"Nope," Elphaba said immediately, shaking her head.

"Come on! That's not fair! I talked about school and girls and parties, now I want to know about _your_ life!"

"No. I don't talk about mys- son of a dragon!" Elphaba exclaimed.

"What? What is it?" Fiyero asked, alarmed.

"Water flows downhill. We're moving uphill. Our best chances of finding water would be back the other way," Elphaba said, running her hands through her dark hair.

"Okay, but in books and stuff, isn't there always like a mountain stream or something?" Fiyero pointed out.

"You're literate?"

"Okay, there are _pictures_ of mountain streams in books," Fiyero smiled, playing along.

Elphaba laughed, the tension that she'd felt a minute ago releasing from her shoulders. "So you think we should keep going, and we'll find water eventually? It's a horse apiece right now."

"I think that's a better idea than walking all the way back. We'd have to cross the field and there are probably other tributes down there. You can survive like three days without water. We've got some time."

* * *

All Galinda wanted was to sleep. Her head was pounding and she was sore and exhausted. And maybe sleep would calm this wild thirst. She'd had water last night, since their packs had contained a few bottles of it, but she hadn't had anything to eat or drink since then. Thankfully, it wasn't hot out. The air was cool even though the morning sun was bright, and Galinda was grateful for her sweater.

It was just as Galinda was ready to sit and rest in self pity that she heard a gurgling sound to her left. It wasn't a human sound, and it didn't seem like it could be an animal, either. Curiosity got the better of her, and she began stepping lightly in the direction of the noise. It was constant, consistent, and it somehow sounded like hope. The pine covered ground gave way to black mud that squelched beneath Galinda's boots. The tall pines gave way to leavy deciduous trees which blew in the chilly breeze. A snaking line of vegetation rose up in front of her, and when Galinda parted it, she was overjoyed to find the source of the gurgling noise- a stream! Only about three feet across and maybe two feet deep, it was completely hidden by long grasses. The bottom was rocky, and Galinda could see clearly to the bottom. Larger rocks stuck out of the water, and caused the gurgling noise. There was a big rock on the bank, and Galinda dropped her pack into the grass and sat on the rock, washing her battered hands in the freezing water. It felt glorious. Just being near the water seemed to quench some of her burning thirst, but Galinda knew she needed to hydrate herself. The water was clear, but not necessarily safe to drink, and as Momsie always said, better safe than sorry. Galinda dug in her pack for a metal water bottle and the small package of water purification tablets.

"What a lot of work," Galinda said after reading the directions, mildly disgusted. She filled her bottle with the stream water, and dropped a tablet in. _And now, we wait._

* * *

"I'm so thirsty," Elphaba groaned. "The hunger I can deal with but the thirst is insane."

"Don't think about it. Think about something else. Or better yet, tell me about yourself," Fiyero said with a wink.

"Everyone always has and always will hate me because I'm green. The end."

"That's not true. I don't hate you. So _everyone_ can't hate you. And what about your family?"

"Ha. They're the worst of them all. Maybe not my sister quite as much, but definitely my father. Fiyero, does it bother you that we haven't seen any other tributes since the start of the Games?" Elphaba asked, changing the subject.

"Well I don't mind since it means we're alive, but I see what you mean." Fiyero pushed his coarse brown hair back, running through it with his fingers casually.

"I just feel like something's wrong. I think I'd rather be fighting for my life. I just have a really bad feeling right now," Elphaba said thoughtfully.

At that exact moment, the words having barely left the young woman's green lips, a knife flew just over Elphaba's head and impaled itself in a nearby pine tree.

"Run!" Fiyero shouted, seeing it all unfold in front of him. He and Elphaba took off.

* * *

Twenty minutes was agony. That's how long it took for the purification tablet to do its job. In those twenty minutes, Galinda became more thirsty than she'd ever thought possible. Hidden in the long grass, she took the opportunity to unlace her boots and rest her feet outside of their leather confines. She didn't feel like sticking her toes in the frigid water, but it felt good nonetheless. Then she waited. And waited. Galinda had no way to tell how much time had passed, but when she saw that the tablet was dissolved, she decided that was good enough. She put the cold bottle to her lips and carefully let a bit of the water into her mouth.

It was better than she'd dreamed. The cold seemed to wake her up, get inside of her brain and make her more alert. The liquid was instantly soothing to her dry throat, and she was gulping the water down before she realized she should slow down. Never had something as simple and fundamental as water brought the usually spoiled blonde such joy and relief. She felt like she could sit by the stream drinking the icy water for hours. In fact she might have, if not for the source of all of the noise on the other side of the stream.

* * *

Elphaba's legs were on fire. She couldn't move another step- but she had to. Running was their only option. Besides the hatchet at Fiyero's waist and their two pocket knives, they were weaponless. Their attacker was a lethal-looking girl with dark eyes and jet-black hair that fell just above her shoulders. Over her sweater was a black vest and Elphaba had seen it was full of throwing knives. It must have been quite the find at the Cornucopia. Trying to hold her off with a hatchet would be suicide.

A knife whizzed by Fiyero's head, and he ducked. He turned to look at Elphaba, who was a few paces behind him. She didn't try to hide the distress that was etched on her green face. Without warning, the a cry sounded behind them. Elphaba looked back to see their attacker hanging upside down by one leg, struggling to free herself from a wire at her ankle. Beneath Elphaba's feet, as she slowed her run, the dirt changed to mud, and Elphaba and Fiyero, still looking over their shoulders as they put more and more distance between themselves and the trapped girl, tripped straight into ice cold water.

Elphaba's senses seemed to be overloaded. The water was instantly numbing, and the relief it provided was incredible. Hands and knees in the rocky stream, she looked over at Fiyero, who had fallen harder and gotten dunked. He looked back at her smiling.

"Well, we found water, and we got rid of her!" Fiyero said cheerfully. "It couldn't get much better." His face turned slightly more grim. "Do you want to, you know..." he broke off, jerking his head in the direction of their former attacker.

"Kill her?" Elphaba finished. Fiyero nodded. "No. No, I don't want to kill anyone unless I have to. Nature will probably take care of her." Then, almost giddy, Elphaba asked, "Do you think this water is safe to drink?"

* * *

Galinda was startled out of her refreshed daze by the sounds of a chase, and then by a scream. Still hidden in the grass, she saw two figures come splashing into the water downstream from her. Their assailant must have gotten caught in one of the random traps set out by the Gamemakers.

"... I don't want to kill anyone unless I have to..." Galinda heard a low female voice. Through the grass, she couldn't see who had come to the stream. But if what this girl said was true, she seemed safe. Galinda made the decision in a split second to trust the pair. She stood, and gasped when she saw them.

One was a handsome young man with tanned skin and shaggy, coarse brown hair. His eyes were a striking green, and his wet sweater sleeves were rolled up, revealing toned arms.

The other was the green girl from Nine.


	9. Feelings

**I am so sorry. It's been almost a full month since I updated and I am so very sorry. Basically, school started. And then all of my time has been devoted to extra-curriculars and homework. Yay. Then, I got stuck writing this, wrote something really great, had my computer shut down without saving, and lost it. Life is good. No but seriously guys, I will strive to make future waits far less.**

**Anyway, in the past month there has been a lot of reader activity, and that is AWESOME. S****o to 'jaclynfrost', 'tap-Violeta', and 'woodland59', thank you for your positive reviews! Glad you liked it! **

**To 'Frottica Arduenna': To be honest, I'm not sure to what extent I'm shipping everyone in here yet. I personally like Fiyeraba, but I like Gelphie, too. The struggle is real. Glad you like it!**

**To 'Broadwaygirl21': I loved all three of your reviews (and I had wondered where you were! lol) and yes, you may call me Ella. ;) Yay Fiyeraba! I'm really glad you like the story!**

**And finally, to 'Bella': Your review honestly made my day! I'm so glad to hear that you're really into this story, and I hope my writing is everything you could want! Sorry about the wait!**

**So basically, reviews are awesome, and don't be shy! I hope everyone enjoys this chapter, and I am really glad to see all of the views and comments and feedback! Enjoy!**

* * *

**Feelings**

Elphaba's heartrate quickened under the gaze of the blonde. Reason told her not to be afraid; the girl was alone and looked just as surprised as she herself felt. She had a short dagger strapped to her side, but it seemed forgotten, and Elphaba doubted the flighty blonde had much skill with it, either.

All at once, the cold water snapped Elphaba out of her observations and she quickly stood up, looking to Fiyero, who did the same. She jumped out of the stream, the breeze making her soaked pants cling uncomfortably to her legs. But there was the more immediate problem of the little blonde. She'd last seen her at the Cornucopia, looking petrified. Surely she'd been with her fellow elite since then.

"Call your Career friends and we'll kill you," Elphaba said, needing to fill the silence as they all gaped at each other. Her face fell to its usual intimidating glare.

"Well then I should be safe. I have no allies, and I just heard you say you won't kill anyone unless you have to." The blonde smiled annoyingly at herself, then stuck out her hand. "Galinda Upland. Of the _Upper _Uplands."

Elphaba stared at the small, perfect hand before her. What was this girl playing at? Before she could make a smart remark, a large, tan hand grasped Galinda's.

"Fiyero Tiggular. Of the good-looking Tiggulars." Fiyero flashed his winning smile, and Galinda smiled prettily back at him, a breathy laugh escaping past her lips. Elphaba felt a twinge of jealousy rising up within her.

"You flatter yourself," Elphaba said, rolling her eyes. "Anyway, the freezing water has essentially caused my legs to go dumb, so if you'll excuse us-"

"Oh yes, you must be terribly cold!" Galinda turned back to the green girl. "I have matches that we could use to start a fire and dry off your clothes."

"That won't be ne-"

Fiyero interrupted Elphaba, much to her disgust. "That sounds perfect. Thank you so much!"

"Great!" Galinda squeaked cheerfully. She turned back to the long grass and hefted her large backpack. "Let's find someplace to make camp."

Elphaba had no choice to follow as Fiyero left with their new partner. "Why _her_?" she mumbled.

* * *

Galinda couldn't believe her luck. She hoped she wasn't being too forward in joining up with the pair, but she couldn't lose this chance.

Fiyero fell in step beside her. "We should find someplace close so we have the water nearby," he suggested. "Elphaba and I haven't had anything to eat or drink since the Games began, except for a few sips back there."

"Oz, how are you still alive?" Galinda asked in disbelief.

"Willpower," Fiyero said with a laugh.

"Oh please," Elphaba said from a ways behind. Galinda and Fiyero stopped and waited for her.

"Elphaba. That's a pretty name," Galinda said, and as Elphaba was far more accustomed to insults than compliments, she scoffed.

"Oz," she groaned.

"No really!"

"Let's stop here," Fiyero inturruped, suggesting a flat area sheltered by half a dozen medium-sized trees. Galinda caught Elphaba giving him a grateful glance.

* * *

Elphaba and Fiyero began tying their rope between four of the trees so they could stretch their tarp over the top, creating a roof. In the time it took for them to do that, Galinda was able to create a warm fire.

Having been cold since the chilly night before, Elphaba had stopped noticing how much colder she was in her wet pants and sweater sleeves until she could feel the warmth of the fire. Fiyero, who'd gotten completely drenched, was shivering almost violently by now and hurried to the flickering warmth.

"You two had better take your wet clothes off and let them dry," Galinda instructed.

Elphaba looked at Fiyero who was trying- and failing- to hide his schoolboy giggle. He thought this was funny?! She was horrified by the very thought of it!

"No way!" she sputtered. "There's no way I'm taking my clothes off in front of two strangers!"

"But your clothes won't dry as fast then, and you'll be cold longer," Galinda countered. As if her body had taken the blonde's side, Elphaba visibly shook with cold.

"C'mon, Elphaba, I'm doing it," Fiyero added with a wink as he began to unlace his boots.

"Oh, come _on_," the green girl groaned. But she, too, started unlacing her boots.

"Now, Fiyero said you two haven't eaten yet, and if I'm hungry, you two must be starving!" Galinda said. "Why don't I see what we've got to eat." The little blonde busied herself with searching the packs for food while Elphaba and Fiyero began to remove their wet clothing.

_What in Oz's name am I thinking_, Elphaba thought as she stood barefoot on the dirt in her black T-shirt and soaked pants. The sweater wasn't a big deal to take off, even though she hated showing her green arms. But her canvas pants were a bigger issue. Her knees were shaking with cold, and she could feel goosebumps up and down her legs. But if showing her arms was difficult, showing her legs was impossible. Elphaba's brown eyes traveled to Fiyero, who had removed his T-shirt and stood smiling awkwardly in his dripping pants. She couldn't help but admire his muscular frame, the way the late-morning sun shone on his smooth, tan chest. And yet here he was, looking at _her_ and feeling just as awkward as she did.

"Um. Why don't we. Um. How about we just turn around?" Elphaba suggested, uncharacteristically at a loss for words.

"Brilliant. Yeah."

Elphaba turned around, then looked over her shoulder to make sure Fiyero had done the same. "You, too, Galinda," she called. The blonde was somehow blissfully unaware of the awkwardness that hung in the air like a low-floating cloud.

Taking a deep breath, Elphaba unfastened her belt and, nearly sick with her own self-consciousness, she finished removing the damp pants, revealing long, thin legs that matched the rest of her body. She pulled her shirt down as far as it would go and clumsily sprinted to Galinda.

"Get me a blanket!" Elphaba hissed frantically, then added, "And don't look!"

Gallinda tossed Elphaba one of the blankets, but as she did so, she instinctively watched her throw. Elphaba could see the blonde take in the sight before her. Elphaba clumsily caught the blanket, letting go of her shirt, but quickly wrapping herself in the warm fabric.

"You really are green… everywhere," Galinda said, almost to herself.

"You thought I just painted my face and hands for the fun of it or something? I told you not to look," Elphaba snapped.

"Sorry, force of habit!"

Once again, Fiyero successfully interrupted the bickering that was beginning to ensue. "Uh, guys? Could you close your eyes so I can grab a blanket, too?"

Elphaba and Galinda glared at each other for a split second more, but both squeezed their eyes shut so Fiyero could dash over to the backpacks and wrap himself in a blanket.

"Okay, I'm presentable," Fiyero laughed. He was standing with the blanket twisted around his waist like an old monument to a god, and he'd struck a pose. Galinda laughed her light, musical laugh at the sight of him while Elphaba cocked an eyebrow and rolled her eyes.

"Oh come on, Elphaba, don't you think I'm handsome?" Fiyero said as he wrapped himself more practically.

"I think it's time to eat," was the green girl's reply. She hoped he didn't see the little smile creep across her face.

* * *

While Elphaba and Fiyero changed, Galinda had set out some of the supply of food, and had fetched fresh water from the stream. It was agreed that the water was safe enough to drink, unless they would suddenly get sick from it. The wet clothes were propped by the fire, and the trio sat partially under the tarp roof.

Elphaba practically inhaled her granola bar, but she forced herself to slow down. Having been forced to go without food as punishment back home, she'd quickly learned not to stuff a starved stomach. But she wouldn't force herself to skimp on water. She never realized how much she took something so fundamental for granted.

Galinda broke their satisfied silence. "So did you two have a plan?"

Elphaba's and Fiyero's eyes met. They did have a plan, but now they had Galinda. She had supplies and food. And three people were harder to attack than two. Obviously this little blonde changed things. Perhaps for the better.

"We actually planned on making our way to the mountains and making camp there because it would be easily defendable and not necessarily a place where we would be attacked anyway," Elphaba explained. Now her face lit up, her brain happy to be calculating and planning their next moves. "But things can be different now, with you here. Really, we don't have much as far as weapons go. You've got your dagger, and we've got a hatchet and two pocket knives. I don't know about either of you, but I don't want to be that close if I have to fight someone."

Fiyero laughed in agreement. "Yeah, that would be preferable."

"Okay, but we can fix that. We can get long, slender branches, remove any little twigs, and sharpen the ends to a point so we have spears." Elphaba turned to Galinda. "You have experience throwing spears from your training, I presume?"

Galinda grew small under the green girl's gaze. "Well, I actually don't have any training."

Fiyero and Elphaba looked stunned. "Wait… what?" Fiyero said slowly.

"How in Oz did you get roped into all of this then? You're from District One! You guys are groomed for the Games!" Elphaba questioned.

"I don't know how much the other Districts heard, but last year at during the Reaping, there was a big brawl among the boys. They were fighting over who volunteered first and who was going to get to go, and I personally knew at least four boys who were sent to the hospital, horrendifically bloodied with injuries! Anyway, in response this year, the officials took away the volunteering option for this year's Reaping. Clearly, I was chosen, and no one could take my place. It wasn't supposed to ever happen. I've never taken a training course in my life! There was always going to be some athletic girl who wanted to go who would volunteer for me," Galinda stared out into the surrounding forest. She didn't sound sad, more regretful.

"Imagine. People, no- _kids_ so bloodthirsty that they'll fight for the "honor" of killing other innocents?" Elphaba spat. Her expression was hard and condescending. "It's sick. I used to be blind to the filth, and I think much of the country is. But while the Upper Districts are rolling in wealth, the Lower Districts are starving and living in poverty. The political system is corrupt. I should know; I've lived in the Governor's mansion my whole life! And the Animals? The Animals who are a part of Ozian society and who have contributed to our culture? They're being stripped of their rights as we speak! Losing their jobs, their homes- and now their own voices! "

Elphaba ran her hands through her hair, agitated. Fiyero took her pause as an opportunity to talk some sense into her. "Elphaba, it's fantastic that you are passionate about something. But could you maybe keep the passion at a lower volume? There's no doubt they've edited this rant out of the coverage, but we don't want the Officials to be annoyed with us, right?"

Elphaba shot to her feet, Fiyero and Galinda staring up at her. Her hands tingled with energy, threatening to do something drastic. "That's the problem, Fiyero! Everyone is too scared to bring about the change we need! That's why the Games continue and why citizens are starving, why the Animals have been treated like common animals! And the worst part is, no one will stand up for them as their livelihood is stolen from them. Even in the poorest districts, other humans don't know how it feels to be personally discriminated against. I'm not wishing that on anyone, but people just don't know how it feels to be a complete outcast, hated by everyone who sees you."

Fiyero stood and faced Elphaba, placing his hands gently on her shoulders. She flinched, wildly looking at his hands. The air had gotten heavier somehow, but Fiyero could only assume there was going to be a change in the weather. "Elphaba, listen to me. We're in a forest, wrapped in blankets, our safety constantly at risk. And there's nothing we can do about it." Fiyero's tone was even and calming. He slid his hands down to gently grasp the green girl's blanket-covered upper arms. She looked panicky, but he couldn't fathom why.

Elphaba took a steadying breath. "I'm going to go down to the stream and get some more water," she said, turning to leave.

"Alone?" Fiyero asked with concern.

"Yes. Alone." Elphaba shot Galinda, who was standing up to join her, a sharp look.

The lanky green girl pulled on her somewhat dry socks and laced up her boots, still clothed in the blanket. Without another glance behind, she snatched up a pocket knife for safety and her water bottle, and stalked away.

* * *

_Breathe. Breathe. Calm down,_ Elphaba told herself, trying to force the magic in her hands to dissipate. The tingling slowly faded, and her heart was finally able to resume its pace. What would she have done if her magic had been revealed? She would never forgive herself if she hurt Galinda or Fiyero. She cursed herself for getting so worked up about the state of Oz. Fiyero was right. There was nothing any of them could do, and compromising their safety in any way probably wasn't worth it. She reached the stream and bent to fill her water bottle, taking a huge sip, then filling it again.

Something rustled behind her, but a breeze blew through, sending her dark hair billowing, and she thought nothing more of it. She screwed the cap onto her bottle, then sat at the bank, collecting her thoughts. A twig snapped, and she glanced over her shoulder to see a pair of boots stop in their tracks.

* * *

"Has she been like this the whole time?" Galinda asked.

"No, she's been very pleasant. In her own way, I suppose," Fiyero answered. By now, his canvas pants were dry enough, and he pulled them back on.

"It seriously came out of nowhere!" Galinda mused. "We were talking about making spears, then about District One, then BAM! Animal rights!"

"She certainly knows how to argue, I guess," Fiyero laughed.

"So how long have you liked her?" Galinda asked, smiling wickedly.

Fiyero's face gave himself away before he could lie his way out, and he knew it. It didn't stop him from trying, though. "What? What makes you think I like her?"

"Oh please. Your face just now, for one, and your entire demeanor around her! You've relaxed a bit with her not being here. Trust me, I'm quite expertacious when it comes to these sorts of things."

"You've got me."

Galinda smiled, pleased with herself. Fiyero was opening his mouth to say something else when a cry sounded through the air.


End file.
